Straightforward or not...?

[JP.]

My mother-in-law owns half the house she lives in after the death of my father-in-law, whose half was bequeathed to my wife (A), her brother (B) and their half-brother (C, my father-in-law's son from before his marriage to MIL). My MIL lives in the house on her own after A, B and C agreed unanimously to leave their inheritance in the property.

My MIL, 73, is concerned that the LA could force her to sell the house to fund any future care needs (although there are no signs of her needing care at the moment). Where does she stand considering she's not the sole owner? Can the LA force A, B and C to agree to the sale?

Thanks.

 

[sheepfield]

Hello!
That's an interesting question. I'm sorry that I'm not sure of the definite answer.
My mother in law owned her home along with her son, my husband, and he lived at the home. He's autistic so I wonder if the thought was whether he would be able to cope with buying his own home so it would good for him if the house couldn't be sold from under him in the event of his mum requiring care. Then he could stay indefinitely without the worry of a forced sale and the massive upheaval in his life.
The LA might put some kind of order on your family's property to be paid on any future sale rather than requiring a sale right away. But I don't know anything for sure and hope that someone will be along with suggestions.

 

[canary]

Hi @JP. My OH and I have a similar arrangement in our wills. When either of us dies, that persons half of the house, instead of being left to the remaining spouse, will be divided equally between our two children. So, if I die before OH does he will then have to move into a nursing home permanently. Because there wont be a spouse, or close relative who is 60yrs or over, or disabled living there the house will be considered as part of his assets and will have to be sold to pay his nursing home fees. Our children are aware of this.

Do bare in mind, though, that it wont be the whole value of the house that will be required for the fees, but only OHs share. Once the house is sold OH will get his half share of the proceeds to pay for the fees, but also, our children will get the other half, which will be divided between them - as per my will

 

[JP.]

Hi @JP. My OH and I have a similar arrangement in our wills. When either of us dies, that persons half of the house, instead of being left to the remaining spouse, will be divided equally between our two children. So, if I die before OH does he will then have to move into a nursing home permanently. Because there wont be a spouse, or close relative who is 60yrs or over, or disabled living there the house will be considered as part of his assets and will have to be sold to pay his nursing home fees. Our children are aware of this.

Do bear in mind, though, that it wont be the whole value of the house that will be required for the fees, but only OHs share. Once the house is sold OH will get his half share of the proceeds to pay for the fees, but also, our children will get the other half, which will be divided between them - as per my will

Thanks for your reply.

That’s interesting as I’ve read on a couple of sites today that if each spouse has a life interest trust set up in favour of the other, once one party dies an LA cannot force the sale of the property from underneath the surviving spouse. I would have thought the same would apply in the case of my MIL but I guess the difference is if there is another party living in the house that ticks those boxes you mention…

 

[canary]

if each spouse has a life interest trust set up in favour of the other, once one party dies an LA cannot force the sale of the property from underneath the surviving spouse.

If there is a surviving spouse, the house is disregarded anyway.

If I died, and in the case of your MIL, there would be no surviving spouse in the house, neither would there be a close relative 60 yrs or over, or a close relative who was disabled. Certainly in our case the house would be empty and I cant think of any reason why my children would not want to sell the house and claim their inheritance from me.

 

[Kevinl]

Isn't the legal bit dependent on (UK England law) dependent on whether you are joint tenants or tenants in common, joint can hold a fixed share, tenants in common are effectively two until two become one as the line from the song goes i.e. one of you dies.
I seem to remember paying off the mortgage and being asked how we wanted to do the property division, I'm sure we were tenenats in common. K

 

[canary]

Yes @Kevinl , it does depend on whether you own the property as joint or as tenants in common. I think youve got it round the wrong way, though. If you own the property jointly, then when one dies the property is automatically owned entirely by the remaining spouse. If you own it as tenants in common then each of you can leave their share of the property to whoever they wish.

OH and I own our property as tenants in common and have both left our share of the house to our children in our wills.

 

[Kevinl]

Agreed, I did get the tenancy it wrong way round, joint versus in common tenancy, however, as JP asked what happens when there are multiple stake holders in a property, can the LA put a charge or deferred payment on half a house when it's co owned in this way, surely if only one stake holder disagreed then surely not, but I'll watch and learn on this one. K

 

[maisiecat]

Just converting our house to tenants in common and making a new will to leave my share to the family if I predecease my husband. I have set up for him to have a life interest in the house which will pay him interest but the capital will remain intact.
I did this because the LA in my area is a bit of an asset stripper and I didn't want my children to be faced with deprivation of assets claim.
I took advice from a later life financial person and also am working with a trusted solicitor. The trust will be run by my executors who are family members so no extra expense

 

[JP.]

Thanks all. Like I said, there's no sign of MIL needing care at the moment so we've got time to consult a solicitor to see where she stands if the need ever arises.

 

[canary]

Thanks all. Like I said, there's no sign of MIL needing care at the moment so we've got time to consult a solicitor to see where she stands if the need ever arises.

Im afraid that most people with dementia eventually need a care home, so if MIL has been diagnosed with dementia then you have to make decisions assuming that this is what will happen. Some people manage to keep a person with dementia at home until the end, but usually they have to live in with them, give up their job, have no children or other people to be responsible for, get in additional carers (and if there is property they are not living in then she will be self funding) and even then it is extremely hard. The stress can seriously affect your health.

It can happen very quickly. My mum was living on her own and just seemed a bit vague and forgetful until suddenly everything spiralled out of control. We were getting new problems almost every day and within 6 months she was in a care home.

Dementia may seem easy now, but do not underestimate it

 

[sheepfield]

We weren't even thinking of dementia, my mother in law just seemed a bit repetitive, leaving the fridge door open etc. Just old age, mild cognitive impairment.
After a day in hospital following a fall with no injuries a few weeks ago, she cannot operate her TV and radio properly, can't make a sandwich, stopped eating for a while, the list is endless. The sudden change has been so stressful and she has finally accepted that she needs some care.